Bergdahl Departs Germany for Treatment in Texas

WASHINGTON — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the American prisoner of war freed on May 31 in exchange for five senior members of the Taliban, left Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday afternoon and will arrive in the United States early Friday to begin treatment at a Texas military medical facility, the Pentagon said.

It will be the start of the final phase of what military officials describe as a multistep healing and reintegration process for Sergeant Bergdahl, 28, who was held captive for nearly five years by militants. After his release to American commandos in Afghanistan, he received medical treatment and counseling at an American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

“Our first priority is making sure that Sergeant Bergdahl continues to get the care and support he needs,” Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.

The process, likely to last weeks or longer, is expected to end with a carefully choreographed reunion with his parents in Hailey, Idaho. Military officials said Sergeant Bergdahl had had no direct contact with his parents since his release.

While military doctors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center indicated this week that Sergeant Bergdahl was physically ready to return to the United States, some American officials questioned whether he was emotionally prepared to make the trip. Of particular concern, they said, were the potential mental effects of reuniting with his parents and media exposure upon his return.

As recently as Wednesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress that Sergeant Bergdahl was only beginning to recuperate from the trauma of his imprisonment and that his doctors “don’t believe he’s ready” to leave Landstuhl.

“This isn’t just about a physical situation,” said Mr. Hagel, a former Army sergeant who was wounded twice during some of the worst fighting of the Vietnam War. “This guy was held for almost five years in God knows what kind of conditions.”

President Obama’s decision to negotiate for the release of Sergeant Bergdahl in exchange for the Taliban detainees, who were being held at the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, ignited anger among members of Congress and critics who equated the freeing of the Taliban detainees to bargaining with terrorists. Lawmakers in both parties have objected to the move, saying Mr. Obama did not consult adequately with them about Sergeant Bergdahl’s impending release.

The Obama administration bypassed a law requiring Mr. Hagel to give Congress 30 days’ notice before transferring a Guantánamo detainee. It did so based on a signing statement issued by Mr. Obama that asserted that he could lawfully sidestep the requirement under certain circumstances.

Some members of Sergeant Bergdahl’s former unit say he deserted by walking off his post, and they have reacted angrily to his release in exchange for the Taliban detainees. They have also argued that the lives of American soldiers were put at risk in the search for Sergeant Bergdahl.

Until Thursday, Sergeant Bergdahl was cloistered at the Landstuhl hospital without access to television or the Internet, officials said. But some details of his imprisonment by the Taliban have emerged, including accounts that Sergeant Bergdahl was held in a cage as punishment for one or two attempts to escape.

Sergeant Bergdahl is expected to arrive at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and receive specialized treatment the military has devised for soldiers freed from lengthy captivities. Many of the protocols the military has established for such patients were first developed during the Vietnam War, when prisoners of war returned to the United States in significant numbers.

In San Antonio, Sergeant Bergdahl will begin the last of three phases of what the military calls “post-captivity reintegration,” including specific steps to overcome the coping strategies that a captive may have developed to handle the trauma of being imprisoned, isolated and degraded. The reintegration can involve hundreds of people, including family members, members of a freed prisoner’s former unit, doctors and lawyers.

The process is likely to be complicated by the length and circumstances of Sergeant Bergdahl’s confinement, and the uproar over his release, said Dr. Frank Ochberg, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder.

“He’s having to reorient himself,” said Dr. Ochberg, who is not involved in Sergeant Bergdahl’s care. “He’s becoming sane after having gone through a period in which his rationality was suspended. It’s going to take him time to find his rational mind, to make sense out of what is going on, and then to be able to communicate — first with his loved ones, and then with people who want to investigate him.”

As Sergeant Bergdahl began his journey back to the United States, more details surfaced about his departure in 2009 from his base in Afghanistan, which led to his capture. In two letters to his parents obtained by The Daily Beast, Sergeant Bergdahl complained about a lack of leadership in his unit and urged American officials investigating his case to reserve judgment until they had all the evidence. The letters were dated 2012 and 2013.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Bergdahl Departs Germany for Treatment in Texas. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe